Employment Law

In a decision dated 10 March 2025, the Hessian Regional Labour Court ruled that the unauthorised forwarding of professional content to a private email account can lead to exclusion from the works council. (Hessisches LAG, judgement of 10 March 2025, Ref.: 16 TaBV 109/24).

In its judgement of 16 April 2025 (case reference: 10 AZR 80/24), the Federal Labour Court ruled for the first time that a contractually agreed commission claim can also be fulfilled in the cryptocurrency Ether, provided this is objectively in the employee's interest. It should be noted that the part of the salary that is within the garnishment-free limit is excluded from this. This non-garnishable amount of pay must continue to be paid out in euros.

In its judgement of 7 November 2024, the Baden-Württemberg State Labour Court (case no. 17 Sa 2/24) ruled that designations in a job advertisement such as "digital native", "team buddy" or "dynamic" can constitute age discrimination.

The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Regional Labour Court (LAG) clarified in its ruling of 28 January 2025 (Ref.: 5 SLa 159/24) that different remuneration for employees performing the same job does not automatically violate the principle of equal treatment under labour law or the equal pay requirement pursuant to Section 7 of the German Pay Transparency Act (EntgTranspG). In the case on which the judgement was based, a personnel manager sued for a significantly higher salary after colleagues who were subsequently hired received significantly higher remuneration. The court denied the plaintiff's claim to payment of the differential remuneration because better professional qualifications and longer, more relevant professional experience constitute objectively justified reasons that allow for unequal treatment.

The EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI Regulation, AI Regulation or AI Act) has been in force since 2 February 2025 and introduces the first binding obligations. A central regulation concerns the obligation of companies to train their employees* in the use of AI systems if AI systems are used (e.g. in the HR department, in customer service or in sales). The following article looks at what this means for companies and their employees in concrete terms and the consequences of a possible breach:

Trade secrets are an essential success factor for companies. However, not every blanket confidentiality clause in an employment contract stands up to legal scrutiny. A ruling by the Federal Labour Court (BAG, 17 October 2024, Ref. 8 AZR 172/23) shows where the limits lie and what consequences this has for employers.

In a recent judgement, the ECJ ruled on the application of general terms and conditions to training contracts with junior athletes.

If the employer and employee agree a variable remuneration in the form of a bonus in the employment contract, the payment of which is linked to the achievement of various targets that are unilaterally set by the employer, the employer is liable to pay damages to the employee if it sets the employee the targets so late that the target cannot have any incentive or motivational function for the employee (BAG, judgement of 19 February 2025, Ref. 10 AZR 57/24 ).

In its judgment of 4 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that an apology may be sufficient as reasonable compensation for non-material damage under Art. 82 GDPR (ECJ, judgment of 4.10.2024, Ref. C-507/23).